Microsoft's acquisition of LinkedIn last week came in as a surprise to many. The $26.2 billion all cash deal was the largest in Microsoft's history.

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However, the acquisition was imminent as there has been an uptick in acquisitions for Microsoft after Satya Nadella took over the reins from former CEO Steve Ballmer.

Microsoft has completed between 2 to 6 acquisition deals per quarter since Nadella has helmed the tech giant, according to a CB Insights report. This is in comparison to 1 to 4 acquisition deals per quarter during Ballmer's era.

Some of Microsoft's acquisitions in the past year include cross-platform mobile app development software Xamarin for $500 million, cyber-security company Adollom for $320 million and keyboard app SwiftKey for $250 million.

The second highest acquisition deal for Microsoft was however done prior to Nadella's era in 2011 when they acquired Skype for $8.5 million.